Old TV's cause new problems

[DainBramaged]

When the hatch popped open on Louis Cornelius' SUV, there were four TVs piled up in the back, all destined for recycling. "My wife wanted to be up to date on the electronics," he says.
Sumiko Flodin's 35-year-old TV "still works," but she bought a new 19-inch set at Best Buy and wanted to empty out her living room. "I don't like the idea of having all this stuff hanging around."

When Virginia Ritchie decided to clear out her old TVs, she loaded up the big one that didn't work anymore, "and then I found three TVs in the basement to get rid of."


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For each of them, and most of the 300 or so people who came to an "electronic waste recycling event" on a chilly Saturday here, the motivation was simple: cleaning up. But for the Environmental Protection Agency and activists worried about soil, water and air pollution, it's more complicated.

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Televisions carelessly disposed of can be toxic to the environment. A huge backlog of unused old ones (99.1 million, the EPA says) is sitting around in people's homes.

And later this year — either on Feb. 17 or on June 12 if Congress passes a delay — the USA will switch from analog to digital TV transmission. The number of unwanted TVs will go even higher as consumers upgrade to sets capable of receiving high-definition broadcasts.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/environment/2009-01-26-tv-waste_N.htm

[LisaM]

1. People here (in Seattle) are just ditching them

I've seen them on highway exits, and in grocery store parking lots. Getting rid of them is a huge problem, though the city just starting free (as of January 1) "e-cycling" and claims they will dispose of them responsibly. We'll see.

So many electronics have a short shelf life right now - and the pollution is poison in the ground. I know people who think nothing of getting two new phones a year - but what do they do with their old ones?

[AnneD]

2. I get the upgrade...

hubby gets my old one and the battered womens shelter get's his.